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“Dantza mokauak,” is taught by masters Patxi laborda, Sabin Bikandi, Katalin Zarate and Anartz Ormaza, and will take place Saturday and Sunday March 3-4 in Areatza, “through a methodology to learn in a fun, clear, simple and appropriate way for the world that we live in.”  Saturday night there will be a dance for workshop participants that is open to the public to enjoy their progress.  Aiko Taldea is a referential group in the area of promotion and transmission of traditional Basque dance.

Bilbo, Bizkaia.  From the dances from Luzaide Nafarroa to the Bizkaian jota from Arratia, via the ancestral “Axuri beltza.” These are part of the menu of dances that will be taught on the first weekend of March in Areatza by Aiko Taldea, a group of musicians and dance masters who promote and place value on the diffusion on the traditional way of dancing.  Katalin Zarate, Anartz Ormaza, Patxi Laborda and Sabin Bikandi will be teaching this intensive dance workshop this Saturday and Sunday using “a methodology to learn in a fun, clear, simple and appropriate way for the world that we live in.”  Registration is open and cost to participate is 50 Euros. You can add, if you need them, room and board at the Hotel Balneario Areatza. (Kutxabank ES85 2095 0233 10 9109943783). All information is available here: www.aikotaldea.eus.

The course, entitled “Dantza mokauak,” includes a wide range of contents including the secrets to jauzi dances and jumps from Luzaide; the importance of partner dances like “porrua,” “chotis,” or “zortziko;” the different rhythms and possibilities that the waltz provides; keys to understand and learn how to dance in groups as well as the opportunity of learning “Axuri beltza,” one of the few remaining dances that are sung, and whose lyrics and melody, by Jaurrieta in 1969, were recreated by Juan Antonio Urbeltz along with his wife Marian Arregi bringing this dance back from oblivion and making it popular again.

“We want to share dance with you,” the passion, vocation and commitment of Aiko Taldea

Besides celebrating the course in Areatza, as a nod to the valley where this town is located, one of the items will be dedicated to learning the basic steps of the Jota from Arratia, known for its beauty and complexity. For the Aiko Taldea, the relationship between music and dance is very close; both coordinate and complement each other, and so they give priority to live music at their performances.  So on Saturday night the musicians and dance masters from Aiko will hold a public dance that workshops participants can also enjoy.

Aiko Talldea is a group of musicians and dance masters who live traditional dance with passion and who have worked for more than a decade for its diffusion and to share it through multiple activities performing, dancing, teaching recording, researching…with the collaboration of the BBK Foundation.  

Along with innumerable dances, courses, workshops and performances all over Euskal Herria, the group’s activity isn’t limited to live performances.  Aiko Taldea has published a total of 10 albums with dance music, and has also carried out other research initiative and disseminated the heritage of popular culture like “Fasioren Mendea,” (an exhaustive work on the live and work of this musician from Arratia, Bonifazio Arandia). “Urraska-Dantza jauziak Sagasetaren bidetik,” (a multi-media compilation of the complete repertoire of jauzi dances), “Jotamentala,” a documentary that pays tribute to the jota, or “BANDtzaldia, a new concept of dance/concerts with bands that have toured several towns and capital cities in the Basque Country...